This is not a grass skirt: On fibre skirts (liku) and female

This is not a grass skirt: On fibre skirts (liku) and female tattooing (veiqia) in nineteenth century Fiji

The Pacific â€˜grass skirtâ€™ has provoked debates about the demeaning and sexualized depiction of Pacific bodies. While these stereotypical portrayals associated with â€˜nakednessâ€™ are challenged in this book, the complex uses and meanings of the garments themselves are examined, including their link to other body adornments and modifications. In nineteenth-century Fiji, beautiful fibre skirts (liku) in a great variety of shapes and colors were lifetime companions for women. First fitted around puberty when she received her veiqia (tattooing), womenâ€™s successive liku were adapted at marriage and during maternity, performing a multiplicity of social functions.

This book is based on a systematic investigation of previously understudied liku in museum collections around the world. Through the prism of one garment, multiple ways of looking at dress are considered, including their classification in museums and archives. Also highlighted are associated tattooing (veiqia) practices, perceptions of modesty, the intricacies of intercultural encounters and the significance of collections and cultural heritage today.

The book is intended for those interested in often neglected womenâ€™s objects and practices in the Pacific, in dress and adornment more generally and in the use of museum collections and archives. It is richly illustrated with rare and previously unpublished paintings and drawings, as well many examples of liku themselves.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Note on Fijian Orthography
Glossary

1. Fibre Skirts, Tattooing and the Museum
2. Liku, Veiqia and the Adorned Body
3. Collecting Liku and Veiqia
Difference: liku, veiqia and early visitors
Domesticity: clothing transformations
Curiosity: colonial bodies
4. Classifying Liku and Veiqia
Liku: lost in translation
Veiqia as museum objects
5. On Separations and Connections

List of Illustrations and Credit Lines
Bibliography
Index
Country USA
Brand Books on Demand GmbH
Manufacturer Sidestone Press
Binding Paperback
ReleaseDate 2019-11-07
UnitCount 1
EANs 9789088908125

Country	USA
Brand	Books on Demand GmbH
Manufacturer	Sidestone Press
Binding	Paperback
ReleaseDate	2019-11-07
UnitCount	1
EANs	9789088908125

This is not a grass skirt: On fibre skirts (liku) and female tattooing (veiqia) in nineteenth century Fiji